Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

lord campbell of pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions in 2017 it was necessary to scramble Quick Reaction Alert aircraft; and, in each case,for what purposes those aircraft were scrambled.

earl howe: Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby launched to intercept on 6 days in 2017.I am withholding further details as deterrence is a principal function of QRA, which is in turn an integral part of the air defence of the UK. The disclosure of information that might compromise the QRA deterrent capability would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the comments by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on 10 December that the agreement reached with the EU on 8 December was a "statement of intent", whether they consider that agreement to be binding.

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government following the comments by the Secretary of State forExiting the EU on the Andrew Marr Show on 10 December that the Brussels undertaking was "more of a statement of intent than (it was) a legally enforceable thing", whether those comments represent their official policy.

lord callanan: Both the UK and the EU have been clear that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. We are clear that we want to honour the agreements set out in the joint report. As the Secretary of State clarified on Thursday 14 December in Parliament, ‘the Withdrawal Agreement will be a treaty, and treaties are binding on this country.’ Therefore, the agreement will be captured in the Withdrawal Agreement, which will be legally enforceable.